The full report into the downing of MH17 on July 17, 2014 will be released this evening (AEDT). It is not expected to record who is to blame for the tragedy.
But quoting three sources close to the investigation, the respected Volkskrant newspaper said the 15-month Dutch-led inquiry had found that the plane was hit by a BUK surface-to-air missile en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
However the manufacturer of the BUK missile says its own MH17 crash investigation contradicts the Dutch report. Speaking at a news conference Yan Novikov, head of the Russian Almaz-Antey concern, did not specify what was in the report and he did not say whether he had been given an advance look.
Thirty-eight Australian citizens and residents were among the 298 killed when MH17 was blown out of the sky on a regular flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
At an air base in the southern Netherlands, the Dutch Safety Board will release its final report into the cause of the crash in front of many relatives of the victims.
The board will also unveil part of the plane’s cockpit and business class section reconstructed from the wreckage.
The report will also address the issue of airlines flying over conflict areas and to what extent people on the plane were aware of what was happening when it was hit.
INTERACTIVE: Flight MH17
The Boeing 777 was flying above heavy fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists.
International investigators are expected to confirm in their final report that a BUK surface-to-air missile brought the plane down.
The safety board, which is the Dutch transport watchdog, has made clear it is not concerned with blame or liability as those are matters for the criminal investigation to answer.
The Joint Investigation Team has been probing the crash for 15 months and has representatives from the Netherlands, Ukraine, Australia, Malaysia and Belgium — the countries most affected by the crash.
Dutch prosecutors confirmed in August that investigators had examined seven “considerable fragments of some size ... probably from a BUK (surface-to-air) missile system” recovered from the crash site.
Kiev and the West have accused pro-Russian rebels of shooting down the plane, possibly with a BUK missile supplied by Russia. Moscow and the rebels deny any responsibility and point the finger at Ukraine’s military.
TIMELINE
2014
July 17: Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashes in eastern Ukraine about 50km from Ukraine-Russian border, carrying 298 passengers and crew. Within hours, claims emerge the plane had been shot down by a surface-to-air missile.
A pro-Russian rebel leader claims insurgents shot down a military aircraft at the same location, but a rebel soldier says in an intercepted telephone call the plane was civilian.
July 18: US President Barack Obama says evidence indicates MH17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile launched from the area controlled by pro-Russian rebels.
Ukraine’s government and pro-Russian insurgents trade blame, as speculation mounts the plane was hit by Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile launcher.
July 19: UN Security Council convenes emergency meeting on Ukraine crisis and Malaysia demands a full, independent and transparent international investigation.
Then Prime Minister Tony Abbott calls on Russia to support a “full and fearless” investigation into crash.
July 22: MH17 black boxes handed to Malaysian authorities in Donetsk, Ukraine. Train carrying remains of 282 victims leaves Donetsk for Kharkiv.
August 7 - Australian death toll stands at 38 citizens and residents. September 9 - Dutch Safety Board preliminary report rules out crew or technical failure as the cause, and concludes a large number of “high-energy objects” penetrated the Boeing 777, causing it to crash.
Russian state media claim the plane was downed by Ukrainian fighter jets.
October 13: Tony Abbott vows to “shirtfront” Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit, and says he will tell the Russian leader Australians “were murdered by Russian-backed rebels using Russian-supplied equipment”.
October 19: German intelligence agency, the BND, says it has evidence MH17 was shot down by a BUK surface-to-air missile system stolen from a Ukrainian base.
November 11: Tony Abbott confronts Putin at APEC leaders’ summit in China, telling him Australia has evidence that Russia was involved in shooting down MH17.
November 16: Vladimir Putin attends G20 in Brisbane. There is no “shirtfront” from Abbott.
2015
March 30: The Dutch-led investigation reaffirms its primary theory that a BUK surface-to-air missile launched from rebel-held territory was responsible for bringing down the flight.
June 25: The five countries investigating the crash - Australia, Malaysia, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Belgium - call for an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible.
June 30: Dutch prosecutors say they have identified many “persons of interest” but no definite suspects.
July 14: Australia, Malaysia, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Belgium formally ask the UN to set up a criminal tribunal to try those responsible.
July 30: Russia vetoes a UN resolution establishing the tribunal, a move Foreign Minister Julie Bishop describes as “an affront to the memory of the 298 victims of MH17 and their families and friends”. August 11 - Investigators find fragments “probably” from a Russian-made BUK missile at the crash site.
September 29: Ms Bishop meets with counterparts from Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine at the annual UN General Assembly to discuss potential legal action against Russia, including a treaty-based international court and national prosecutions.
October 13: The Dutch Safety Board’s report to be published. Early leaks indicate the plane was brought down by a BUK surface-to-air missile from a village under the control of pro-separatist rebels.
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